Arif Nizami said on Wednesday that according to reports available to him, the judicial commission report laid the blame of the Model Town incident squarely on Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s shoulders and that is why the report has been withheld.
“If the report is issued, it will certainly separate fact from fiction.”
Pakistan Today Editor Arif Nizami said this while talking to Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT)’s Central Information Secretary Qazi Faizul Islam on his talk show DNA on Channel 24.
“In the entire history of Pakistan there has never been an incident this brutal where around 100 people were shot at, and 14 were martyred. Two of the women were shot in their faces,” Qazi said.
He said that they have been striving for justice for two years and still haven’t received it. Justice Ali Baqar Najafi’s judicial commission report on the incident has still not come out, he added.
“We registered a protest even the previous year and have been trying to seek justice for our martyrs,” Qazi said, and added, “June 17 is the anniversary of the Model Town massacre and since we didn’t get any justice we are presenting our case in the court of public opinion and asking for their support.”
He said the Joint Investigation Teams (JITs) made by the Punjab government were one sided and they hand-picked their favourite police officers for it. If the Punjab government is not guilty then why aren’t they publishing the judicial commission’s report?
“I was there when the horrible incident happened. I faced the onslaught of tear gas, batons and firing for 12 straight hours. What type of a chief minister is this? The barbarity went unchecked for 12 straight hours and he didn’t even get a whiff of it?” Qazi said.
On a question, Qazi said that Dr Tahirul Qadri will reveal his future plans regarding the duration of the protests and his strategy at Friday’s sit-in.
Arif Nizami in his concluding remarks said that if the government has nothing to hide then the judicial commission’s report should be published.
